Dennis Greaves
Shortly after having his first guitar, a 1976 Gibson ES 335cr, bought for him by his father, Dennis Greaves formed Nine Below Zero, one of two bands that would be omnipresent in his life and career from 1977 onwards
The other of the pair was The Truth, who formed after the original incarnation of Nine Below Zero had, at the time, run their course. Dennis's career started off in South London under the name of Stan's Blues Band, building themselves a following on the local pub rock circuit with their brand of energetic blues/rock.
At a show at the Old Kent Road pub venue, the Thomas A Beckett, musician Mickey Modern offered to become their manager. After accepting the offer, a name change ensued, the band becoming Nine Below Zero, which was lifted from a Sonny Boy Williamson number. Through his association with A&M Records, Mickey Modern took some demo tracks that he'd produced along to the label. He persuaded the label to set up a subsidiary, M&L.
With Modern shaping and overseeing their fortunes, Nine Below Zero went pro and on June 16, 1980, they recorded one of the most iconic live albums of the period, if not of all time, called ‘Live At The Marquee’. During the early part of 2018, Nine Below Zero did a 40th anniversary tour of the album, something they had previously performed at Camber Sands scooter rally some years before. Musically, in 1980 NIne Below Zero’s music was somewhere between The Who’s early R ‘n’ B sound, fused with the pub and blues/rock meets rhythm and punk of Dr Feelgood. A year later they transferred their live energy to the recording studio, the result being ‘Don't Point Your Finger At The Guitar Man’.
In 1981, Nine Below Zero notched up several national television appearances, as well as supporting both The Kinks and The Who. Most of the recording for the band's third album, ‘Third Degree’, was done. It marked the addition of a Hammond organ and Soul influences. By March 1982, Nine Below Zero had decided to split. Dennis Greaves already had plans in place for his next band, The Truth.
Nine Below Zero reformed in 1990 and, alongside The Truth, have continued to tour and record. The Truth, albeit part of the second wave of revival bands – those that arrived during the early 1980s – are part of the line-up for Mods Mayday 40th Anniversary Show. We managed to grab a quick chat with Dennis about The Truth, and touching on Nine Below Zero, prior to an on-tour soundcheck with Nine Below Zero supporting From The Jam on the 40th anniversary of the All Mod Cons album tour.
Looking back to 1982, what was the reason behind Nine Below Zero splitting up and The Truth starting?
Nine Below Zero had been signed to A&M since 1979. We'd been on the road continually from 1979 doing 300 gigs a year. It had reached a point in March 82 where we all decided to call it a day. We'd released three albums, the last one with A&M. ‘Third Degree’ had much more of a Soul feel, with a Hammond organ. I had discovered and fallen in love with Soul and Motown. A& M wanted Nine Below Zero to carry on and record a fourth album, but our management had different ideas. What should've happened was for Nine Below Zero to have taken a break, but instead the band split up. I already had the idea to assemble a line-up with two guitars and a Hammond organ, aiming for a sound somewhere between the Motown sound and the J Geils Band.
April 1982 was long before the internet. I put some adverts in Melody Maker, which resulted in the original line-up of The Truth coming together with Mick Lister, Chris Skornia and Russell Mckenzie joining with me. That was except for the drummer, Gary Wallis, who arrived after an encounter with his mum in East Street Market in the East End. She'd heard I was looking for a drummer for my new band. She told me her son was a really good drummer, so we invited him to audition,
and he was good. The Truth were formed in April 1982.
Starting again in effect from scratch as The Truth, how long was it before you were making an impact? The ’79 Mod Revival had run its course and The Truth were at the vanguard of the second wave of revival. What do you remember from then?
It was a relatively short time. The Truth formed in April and we had signed to Warner Bros Records by the end of the summer of 82. Then, a couple of years later, The Truth signed to Infinity/IRS, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
The Truth aimed to look the part. We went to Smedleys to get matching black turtle-necks, and had our black trousers tailor-made. In the early days of The Truth we sort of intentionally looked a bit like The Easybeats! I found and plundered my dad's wardrobe with all of his original 60s’ mod clothes. I can remember the Scala at Kings Cross screening episodes of The Prisoner, way before it was re-run on television. Quite hip social gatherings they were. You'd see people like Chrissy Hynde and Ray Davies there. Clothes, appearance and fashion were important, although we'd still got Punk, mod with New Romantics appearing, too. Music was equally important. They were exciting times. It was almost like there was a (new) band in every bar and pub, with new approaches to fashion seen on every street corner.
During the 1980s, The Truth released a series of records, singles, EPs and albums over a seven-year period. Although the line-up changed several times, The Truth were also renowned for live performances. Retrospectively, would you say The Truth were best in the recording studio or playing live?
A bit of both, really. We almost got the studio recording and live performance balance right with The Truth, and definitely in comparison to Nine Below Zero, who never quite seemed to capture the energy of playing live in studio conditions. The Truth had more radio play, than Nine Below Zero, and got close to having a few hits in the singles charts. Cherry Red put out a three-CD set of material from what was our first year, consisting of early singles, demos, BBC sessions and a live recording of The Truth live (at the Marquee), in 2016 under the title ‘A Step In The Right Direction’, which was the title of our second single. That box set is a snapshot in musical terms of The Truth between 83 and 84.
The Truth's debut song ‘Confusion’ (Hits Us Everytime), was very successful in terms of UK chart placings, almost breaking into the top 20. Was it a single or an EP?
‘Confusion’, The Truth's first record, was a single, though back then in the early 80s anyone releasing a single was able to put a record out in all kinds of formats. ‘Confusion’ was a single, a four-track EP, and was released on 12-inch vinyl, too. Anything to get a single in the charts, coloured vinyl; anything aimed at getting an all-important top 20 placing was used by record companies, short of giving singles away free to a good home. For all I know, that might've been tried by one or two record labels back then.
At the time of your debut single being released in 83, The Truth were cited by some as the band that would fill the void vacated by The Jam splitting up in 82. Was that comparison a help or a hindrance?
It was probably the worst thing that ever happened to us. One or two lazy music journalists went down that route. What was worse was Steve Wright on Radio One proclaiming that The Truth would take the place of The Jam, and we were collectively going ‘NOOOO’. We really didn't want to be tarred with that brush. We were The Truth and our aim was doing things our way.
‘Playground’, The Truth's debut album’ wasn't released until 1985, with all new tracks, without one of the previous single or EP tracks released previously included on it. A great album in its own right, but it didn't seem to have serious backing from your record label?
When we got round to actually recording ‘Playground The Truth’, after two years hard touring on the road had toughened us up, I'd say we had matured as a band, too. Our earlier singles had more of a pop feel by comparison. Warner Bros Records put all their weight and effort into Howard Jones,and although they were our record label, they didn't seem to like us much. We never got to make an album with Warner Bros Records. ‘Playground’ was released through Infinity, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. With little in the way of promotion, our debut album didn't even make a dent on the outer reaches of the album charts! The Truth carried on until 1989. We toured in both the UK and America, releasing a couple more albums with IRS. ‘Weapons Of Love’ nearly made it into the US top 100 album charts in 87, and ‘Jump’ in 89 was The Truth's swansong. There were a few singles released between 84 and 89, as well as a non-album track, ‘It's Hidden’, which featured in a B-movie ‘The Hidden’) soundtrack in 1987.
The Truth reformed in 2012, and Nine Below Zero reformed in 1990. Both bands were contributors to the 79 Mod Revival. During 2018, Nine Below Zero, as well as your own headline shows, have supported From The Jam on their 40th anniversary All Mod Cons Tour. The Truth also played a few shows with Secret Affair during the Autumn. The Truth are on the line-up for the 40th Anniversary Mods Mayday event. Llooking forward to that, what are your thoughts?
The Truth, in real terms, have only recently got back together. It’s always a pleasure to play dates with Secret Affair. Being like-minded people and old mates, it's always fun to do. Nine Below Zero is currently touring with From The Jam and it’s equally pleasurable, hooking up with old pals like Bruce (Foxton) and Russell (Hastings). It’s better than grafting for a living! The Truth are back on the scene and looking forward to Mods Mayday in Islington. We've been working on a few things. As a musician, I strongly believe you've got to keep it fresh, because it keeps it interesting for the band, as well as for the fan base.